Take the Green & Clean Nail Salon Survey!

If you enjoy a good pampering from your local nail salon, please take part in our quick Green and Clean Nail Salon Survey! Since 2007, the Boston Public Health Commission’s Safe Nail Salon Project has been working with nail salons and technicians on environmental health and safety.

We are about to kick off a ‘Green & Clean’ nail salon recognition program, which will recognize salons that go above and beyond basic environmental and safety standards. You don’t have to live in Boston to participate in this short survey, but, we only want to hear from people who regularly go to nail salons.

So what do nail salons have to do with public health?:

While consumers may not realize the “chemical beauty burden,” if you work in the business you know that every nail service involves the use of multiple chemicals. As described by the Story of Cosmetics, beauty products are largely unregulated and some of them can be harmful to your health. Because there aren’t a lot of ways to replace those chemicals with safer ones, the Boston Public Health Commission’s Safe Nail Salon Project wants to improve air quality and ventilation and personal protective equipment.

The Safe Nail Salon Project also wants to protect consumers from infections at salons. For this reason, the Boston Public Health Commission has created nail salon health and safety regulations that went into effect on July 13, 2011. The regulation requires that all nail salons obtain public health permits to operate in the city of Boston and that the salons meet the necessary environmental, occupational and sanitary conditions.

The Safe Nail Salon Project has developed an (anti-) cootie catcher with tips for the consumer on having a safe nail salon experience. These include:

Not shaving or waxing your legs within 24 hours of getting a pedicure.

Ask for clean single use tools (pumice stones/flip flops/toe separators) that haven’t been used on anyone else.

Make sure that reusable (metal/non-porous) tools have been disinfected before they are used on you.

Avoid polishes that contain the ‘Toxic Trio’ of formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate.

Call us at 617-534-5050

Located in Boston, the Mayor’s Health Line is a free and confidential, information and referral phone service open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. It is your one-stop-shop for your health insurance and health care needs. The Mayor's Health Line is part of the Boston Public Health Commission. please visit their site at www.bphc.org